I'm looking to master projects, scores, and solo instruments. Would the mastering features in Logic Studio render a quality master ? or would it be advised to purchase a 3rd party plugin such as Wavelab 7 or Ozone 5 ?

What are some high end mastering plugins ? alternately what are some mid range mastering plugins ?

I use Logic and find that the delivered tools are very good. But for mastering, I think that they need some supplementing. I really love IK T-Racks for bringing out the sparkle in the mix and taming the EQ and band-specific amplitude issues that Logic alone can't.

T-Racks is pretty affordable and can make a mix sound instantly better.

I swear by Vienna Suite by VSL. whether that's high or mid-range $ to you {download is 475 euros from their site}, it is a full 'suite' of 'mastering' plugins incl a fantastic convolution/algo hybrid 'verb. Multiband Limiter, Limiter, Compressor, EQ, Mastering EQ, Exciter, Power Panner, Goniometer, Analyzer. Except for the 'fat' setting with the compressor, or of course the exciter, the goal is transparency rather than adding color or 'vintage' character which is what I use for instance the T-RackS Fairchild 670 emulation for, for some things.

Soundtrack Pro was not there for mastering - that was Waveburner (an excellent application, which I don't underastand why it was discontinued, as is it indeed an added value). But the OP was talking about plug-ins, not applications. Waveburner would justify the buying of the Logic Studio as a package.

You can do Mastering also inside LOGIC using the right third party Plug-Ins. I've done it since now with very good results. WAVEBURNER is an optional tool. Soundtrack Pro is comparable to ADOBE SOUNDBOOTH, strangely Adobe has discontinued support for this product too.

Well, you can also use external Audio Editors such as DSP-Quattro or similar, like (retired) Bias PEAK PRO.

Delfinoverde wrote:You can do Mastering also inside LOGIC using the right third party Plug-Ins. I've done it since now with very good results. WAVEBURNER is an optional tool. Soundtrack Pro is comparable to ADOBE SOUNDBOOTH, strangely Adobe has discontinued support for this product too.

Well, you can also use external Audio Editors such as DSP-Quattro or similar, like (retired) Bias PEAK PRO.

Waveburner was not an option. It was a separated product during th Emagic periood, but was included as part of the Logic Studio suite. With the end of that suite, it was discontinued (only Logic Pro and MainStage survived). Soundbooth is also not the counterpart of Soundtrack Pro. That is Audition which is still available both standalone and as part of Creative Suite. Soundbooth was a derivation of Audition which made little sense, that's probably why Adobe discontinued it.

sprnva wrote:Also, the loops from the app store downloads are lossy compressed, while the disc versions are lossless.

I don't think so.

I can't pull up a downloaded loop just now as they were overwritten on my system when I installed the boxed Logic Studio. But if you open a loop .caf file in Quicktime Player 7 and check the movie inspector the retail boxed loops are "Apple Lossless". IIRC the downloaded ones showed up as "AAC".

fmr wrote:Waveburner was not an option. It was a separated product during th Emagic periood, but was included as part of the Logic Studio suite. With the end of that suite, it was discontinued (only Logic Pro and MainStage survived). Soundbooth is also not the counterpart of Soundtrack Pro. That is Audition which is still available both standalone and as part of Creative Suite. Soundbooth was a derivation of Audition which made little sense, that's probably why Adobe discontinued it.

WAVEBURNER is still an option! SOUNDBOOTH is much better than AUDITION, which is one of the most buggiest software ever made! But of course this is my opinion only - formed with my experiences.

sprnva wrote:I can't pull up a downloaded loop just now as they were overwritten on my system when I installed the boxed Logic Studio. But if you open a loop .caf file in Quicktime Player 7 and check the movie inspector the retail boxed loops are "Apple Lossless". IIRC the downloaded ones showed up as "AAC".

If you do some quick maths with downloaded content, total size is almost the same as Logic Studio one.

If loops were all AAC, total size should be about 1/4 of Logic Studio DVDs.